


Klainanigans!Blainanigans!

by Ellie226



Series: Klainanigans! [22]
Category: Glee
Genre: Age Play, Daddy Kink, Multi, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-21
Updated: 2012-09-21
Packaged: 2017-11-14 17:13:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellie226/pseuds/Ellie226
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daddy and Blaine have a weekend alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Klainanigans!Blainanigans!

After much begging and pleading, Daddy had agreed to let Kurt to fly to Chicago to see Mercedes. It was only a long weekend, but that meant Daddy and Blaine were home alone. Things were...interesting.

They had all four days off for the long weekend. Kurt had left early Friday morning, and when Daddy got home from taking him to the airport, he found Blaine awake, on the couch, blinking owlishly at cartoons. Thumb in his mouth, he was cuddling with HamishPrickles and resting his head on Boofus.

“Hey munchkin,” Daddy told him, sitting down. “What’re you doing up so early?”

Blaine scooted so he could wrap himself up against Daddy, “Waked up and nobody was here. There’s cartoons.” His voice was slurry from still being tired.

Grabbing the remote, Daddy clicked the TV off. “I had to take Kurt to the airport. Remember? We woke you up so Kurt could give you a kiss good bye?”

“Dadddddddyyyyyyy,” Blaine whined, reaching one arm out to try to grab the remote control from Noah. He was a little uncoordinated because he was still half asleep, and Daddy had longer arms, but he kept flailing for it. “I was watchin’ that.”

“Cartoons will be here later whiny. You need to sleep some more.” Noah got up, staggering a little bit under Blaine’s weight before he got himself righted. Then, grabbing Boofus, he carried them both back to the bedroom. 

Once Blaine was settled under the covers and Daddy was toeing his sneakers off, Blaine threw Boofus at him. “Daddy! You leaved Mr. Prickles out there by himself.”

“Blaine!” Daddy batted Boofus away from himself, voice irritated. “Don’t throw stuff at Daddy. What’s gotten into you?”

“You leaved Mr. Prickles out there by himself,” Blaine repeated, his tone suggesting that Daddy had left an infant in the middle of the freeway.

“Well, you use your words to tell me stuff. You don’t throw things at Daddy.” Noah aimed a swat at Blaine’s backside to punctuate himself, ambling back toward the living room to get the stuffed hedgehog.

Handing him over to Blaine, Noah stripped his jeans off and slid into bed beside the two of them. “Come here munchkin,” he mumbled, pulling Blaine toward himself.

Although Blaine tensed, trying to wriggle away for a moment, they both fell asleep soon, sleeping for several more hours. 

“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” Blaine poked at Daddy in time to his chant. “It’s time to get up up up! We need pancakes!”

“Blaine,” Daddy moaned, rubbing at his eyes before he grabbed Blaine’s hand, “What have I told you about poking?”

“Is saying I love you with my finger,” Blaine said solemnly, leaning over to kiss him. “G’morning Daddy! Can we make pancakes now?”

Daddy stretched before he grabbed Blaine and pulled him down for another kiss. Letting him go, he smiled sleepily, “Go wash your hands. I’ll be out in a minute. Do NOT touch the stove.”

Blaine nodded, jumping off the bed and bouncing out to the kitchen. Noah snorted as he heard a very loud rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, then finally crawled out of bed. When he got to the kitchen, he found Blaine halfway in the fridge, eggs in one hand and butter in the other.

“Can we make bacon too?”

“Get it out,” Daddy instructed, going to wash his hands.

Blaine bounced around the kitchen, ‘helping’ Daddy. He got through breakfast in a constant chatter about his week and what they should do that day, and then ‘helped’ Daddy wash the dishes.

“Why don’t you go and get dressed,” Daddy suggested, turning Blaine toward the bedroom and giving him a gentle swat.

Watching Blaine for a moment, Daddy checked the time. It was 9:30; he was exhausted. There was no way he was going to make it through this weekend.

He barely had the kitchen cleaned up before Blaine was back, hopping around him and singing. 

“Can we listen to music? Can we put the radio on Daddy?”

Although the apartment was pretty quiet, in spite of Blaine and Kurt, if Blaine started dancing, the downstairs neighbors were going to complain.

“Not right now angel. Why don’t you pick something else?”

Blaine thought for a minute, raising his thumb to his lips as he considered his options. Finally, with a smile, he asked, “Daddy? You play blocks with me?”

Daddy agreed to that plan, hoping that Blaine would be able to play with blocks until lunchtime. The weekend was stretching out in front of him, and he was worried about entertaining Blaine all by himself.

Luckily for Daddy, Blaine was so excited to get his undivided attention and get to play blocks that he very happily focused on just building until almost 11:30.

“Daddy?” Blaine asked, “Is time for lunch now?”

Noah decided it would be good to have lunch. After lunch could be napping, and Daddy thought he would probably need it by then.

“What would you like munchkin?” Daddy asked, standing up and stretching before pulling Blaine to his feet.

Blaine followed Daddy into the kitchen, tapping his chin thoughtfully before saying, “Gwilled cheese?”

“Gwilled cheese?” Noah asked, hugging Blaine to him and smiling. Little Blaine was delightful; this weekend wouldn’t be that bad. He’d been overreacting.

“Please?”

“Of course angel. Do you want tomato soup or carrots and celery?”

Blaine wrinkled his nose up at that, “No veg’tables Daddy. Yuck.”

The ongoing veggie war. Daddy thought he had mostly won at this point, but he didn’t realize that Blaine typically ate vegetables because Kurt did, and he didn’t want to get into trouble instead of playing with Kurt. 

“We eat vegetables munchkin,” Daddy reminded, getting out ingredient.

“You eat veg’tables. I eat gwilled cheese.”

Daddy put down the cheese, looking at Blaine. “We eat vegetables. Do you want soup or carrots and celery?”

“Sandwiches,” Blaine said obstinately, glaring at Daddy. It was a rare issue that Blaine was willing to put his foot down on, but he hated vegetables.

Noah raised an eyebrow, “You pick or I do kiddo, but there will be vegetables with lunch.”

This was typically the point where Kurt would sigh and look pointedly at Blaine, irritated about arguing over something like vegetables. When Daddy couldn’t convince Blaine of something, desire to please Kurt could.

“No! Daddy, I don’t like veg’tables.”

“Well, you have to eat them. We’re having grilled cheese. Do you want juice, water, or milk?”

“Juice,” Blaine said, suspiciously. Daddy could be tricky sometimes, and he didn’t trust him.

“Do you want a cookie or a popsicle?”

“Cookies.”

“Soup or carrots and celery?”

Daddy might be tricky, but Blaine had been waiting for him this time. Crossing his arms over his chest, he shook his head stubbornly. 

“Soup it is,” Daddy calmly responded, pulling a ziplock bag of frozen tomato soup out of the freezer. He began defrosting the soup and assembling sandwiches, ignoring his typically angelic kid pouting at the kitchen counter.

“Can you get me some bowls please?” he asked.

Blaine went to the cabinet, getting out one bowl and bringing it to Daddy.

Noah took a deep breath. Kurt was more consistently difficult, but Blaine had a stubborn streak. “Monkey, I want soup too. Please get another bowl,” he instructed, pretending to not understand why he’d only been given one.

“That bowl’s for you.”

“Blaine Riley, do you want time out?”

That was a dumb question; Blaine never wanted time out. Sitting on the rug until Daddy let him out was boring. He wasn’t supposed to fidget, and it made Blaine twitchy.

Rather than respond to Daddy’s idiocy, Blaine furrowed his brow, blurting out, “I don’t like veg’tables.”

“I’d like you to go sit in time out please,” Daddy said gently, coming around the island to usher Blaine to the corner where his mat was.

“Daaaaaaadddddddddyyyyyyyyyyy,” Blaine whined, drawing the word out impressively. He hated time out, and he hated veg’tables, and Daddy was being not fair.

Daddy put a little pressure on Blaine’s shoulder, expecting him to sit with the slight reminder. He raised an eyebrow at Blaine when the smaller boy crossed his arms and glared.

“Monkey,” he said quietly, “you’re not in trouble right now. I want you to take some time to think and calm yourself down so that we don’t have any trouble. Do you understand?”

Blaine’s eyes filled up with tears. That wasn’t fair either. Daddy being quiet and calm and not mean when he was doing something that Blaine hated was not fair. Tomato soup was not fair. Blaine being all by himself all weekend was supposed to be fun, and Daddy was not being fun.

Noah gently patted Blaine on his butt. “Come on munchkin. Don’t make me punish you. Just sit in time out for 15 minutes while I finish lunch, then we can eat. Doesn’t that sound good?”

Blaine sniffled at that, slowly sinking to the ground and curling up, arms wrapped around his raised knees. Pressing his face to his legs, he refused to look at Daddy. 

“That’s my good boy,” Noah praised, running his fingers through Blaine’s curly hair.

“I don’ wanna talk wif you right now,” Blaine said, voice creaky like he was about to really cry.

Now, if it had been Kurt, Daddy probably would have sat down and had a conversation about being polite and how they were supposed to talk to each other. However, getting Blaine to express any sort of opinion or feeling had been a hard won battle, and Daddy figured that even if it wasn’t really the most respectful way he could have phrased that, he should just be appreciative that Blaine was actually saying what he needed right then.

Ruffling his hair one more time, Daddy said, “Okay munchkin. Thank you for using your words. Let me know when you think you’re ready to come back out.”

Daddy made sandwiches, stirring the soup occasionally and keeping a close eye on Blaine. Something was up. When the sandwiches were done, Noah quickly sliced up an apple, plated the food, then carried everything to the table. Returning to the kitchen, he grabbed Blaine’s sippy cup and got a glass of water for himself.

“You ready to come out angel?” 

Blaine sniffled a little, looking up at Daddy with red rimmed eyes, then holding his arms out mutely. Noah obligingly picked him up, carrying him to the table. He wasn’t surprised by Blaine’s arms entwining themselves around his neck, preventing him from putting the boy down. Instead, he sat in a chair, keeping Blaine on his lap, and holding half a sandwich up.

Blaine mutely took a bite, then set the sandwich back down. He quietly fed himself the apple slices and sandwich, and he opened his mouth for spoonfuls of soup, even if he did make faces.

“Don’ wan’ it,” he tried, one last time.

Noah didn’t bother to respond, simply holding the spoon up until Blaine ate. He wasn’t going to make Blaine eat the entire bowl, but he needed to get some vegetables in.

As the meal progressed, Noah kept up a steady patter, discussing possible ideas for the weekend. It was only Friday; they had to pick Kurt up from the airport on Monday afternoon.  
Blaine didn’t bother to respond verbally to him, simply eating his food.

When the soup was almost gone, Blaine rested his head against Daddy’s shoulder. “No more Daddy. Full.”

Noah figured that ¾ of a bowl of soup was more than he expected most days, and he let it go. He finished eating his lunch, deciding that naps took precedent over cleaning up.

Picking Blaine up, he carried him back to the bedroom, and dropped him on the bed. That managed to elicit a small giggle, although Blaine was soon back to being his solemn little self. It could be hard to remember when he was bouncing around the apartment, singing along to the radio or insisting that he was an actual monkey, that Blaine had more than a slight tendency to brood.

“Can you get your jeans off monkey? It’s time to take a nap.”

Blaine didn’t say anything, simply divesting himself of his jeans and crawling under the covers. Hugging both Mr. Prickles and Boofus to his chest, he watched Daddy. Finally, he couldn’t hold it in. “You nap too? Please?”

Daddy had been planning on it. Time spent with just his angel was exhausting, and Daddy needed the rest. He nodded as he pulled off jeans and climbed in beside Blaine.

“I don’t wanna be lonely while you’re resting,” he explained, pulling the other boy against him and kissing the nape of his neck. “Will you close your eyes for me?”

Blaine nodded, relaxing against Daddy. Naps by himself were boring, and naps with Kurt often ended with one or both of them getting swatted. Naps with Daddy and Kurt were the best, but naps with just Daddy were an acceptable alternative.

As Blaine was pondering these things, his breath slowly evened out, until he was fast asleep. It took Noah a little bit longer, but they were both soon out, resting up for their afternoon and evening.

Blaine woke up first, as he generally did, and he sat up, looking at Daddy. He didn’t want to go play by himself, but Daddy didn’t like poking, and he wished that Kurt was here. If Kurt was here, then Blaine could just a little bit poke him until he whined, then Daddy would wake up, and there wouldn’t be a ‘discussion’ about poking. Even if it was saying ‘I love you’ with Blaine’s fingers, he figured that more than one ‘I love you’ a day would probably lead to more time out.

With a sigh, he flopped backward on his pillow, turning to stare at Daddy. Maybe if he stared long enough, Daddy would just wake up and entertain him. He never got his cookies earlier.

For his part, Noah was laying quietly, eyes shut, feeling Blaine stare at him. It was surprisingly unsettling, but he didn’t want to move. He was comfortable, and as long as Blaine wasn’t being actively mischievous, Daddy was going to revel in this comfort for as long as he could.

It wasn’t very long. Blaine couldn’t hold still, and he started running a gentle finger over Noah’s face, somehow managing to hold onto Boofus and his blanket and suck his thumb with his other hand.

“Daddy?” Blaine whispered loudly. When Noah didn’t respond, he said, “Daddy? Are you all done sleepin’ now?”

Noah couldn’t help but smile at that, quickly snatching Blaine’s wandering fingers and pressing a kiss to his palm. “I’m all done sleeping monkey. Thank you for laying quietly for a while.”

“Welcome,” Blaine said quietly, smiling at the praise. “Can we get Chinese food for dinner?”

Daddy looked at him appraisingly, “Will you eat veggies without arguing with me about it?”

“I don’t yike them.”

“You don’t have to like them. You do have to eat them.”

Blaine screwed up his face, contemplating the offer, finally, he nodded. “We go to Chinatown though Daddy?”

“Promise me you’ll eat your vegetables without a fight?”

Blaine nodded resolutely, “Pwomise.” He thought for a minute, “Only tonight though? Because I don’t yike ‘em.”

Figuring that was the best he could get, Daddy nodded, feeling the need to add, “Only tonight, but you’re still going to be eating them every day. Because they’re good for you, and you need to eat them.”

“But I don’t yike ‘em Daddy,” Blaine complained, pressing further forward against Noah and inhaling the comforting scent. “They’re yuck.”

“There has to be a vegetable you like munchkin. I just don’t believe that you hate all of them.”

“Nope, I hate all of ‘em. ‘cept corn.”

“Corn isn’t a vegetable.”

“Is too. I yike it. But only on cobs.”

“Peas?” Those were kind of like corn.

“Too mushy,” Blaine explained, making a face.

Noah thought about all the vegetables he’d cooked since they started eating together, running through them in his mind. No broccoli. No spinach. Tomatoes if they were cooked, but only some of the time. Beets were out, as were green beans, lima beans, and just beans in general. 

Blaine got bored, and he patted Noah’s chest. “We get up now?”

“We can get up,” Noah agreed, sitting up and swinging his legs out of the bed, unsurprised at Blaine holding his arms out to be carried. “Just so we’re clear; you may never find a vegetable you like, and you may argue with me every night about it, but we will still eat vegetables.”

Blaine stuck his tongue out at that, shrieking with laughter when Noah tossed him over his shoulder.

“Pu’ me down Daddy!” he insisted.

Noah spun a few times, then walked out to the living room, dropping Blaine on the couch. “What’re we going to do until dinner time then munchkin?”

“Go to Chinatown Daddy!”

“For the rest of the day?” Noah asked. It was only 2:00. They wouldn’t eat until 6:00. 

“Yes!” As Blaine answered, he stood up on the couch and began bouncing.

Rolling his eyes, Noah grabbed Blaine when he was hopping up, using his momentum to swing the boy down to the ground. Swatting firmly, he said, “No jumping on the couch Blaine Riley. You know that.”

“Can we go to Chinatown? Pleeeeeeease?” Blaine asked, even as he rubbed at the spot that had gotten smacked. 

“Why don’t we try the park first kiddo? We can go play on the swings?” And maybe run off some of that extra energy.

Blaine smiled at that, “An’ the jungle gym?”

“Go put on your jeans and we’ll go play at the park,” Daddy instructed.

With a cheer, Blaine went running to the bedroom, coming out bouncing shortly thereafter, jeans on and a sneaker in each hand.

“Socks too munchkin,” Daddy reminded him with a smile.

Blaine sat down, trying to jam his sneakers on his bare feet. “I don’ need any socks Daddy,” he explained.

Noah rolled his eyes, going back to the bedroom and returning with socks. Sitting in front of Blaine, he pulled his shoes off and put socks onto the boy before adding the shoes. “Yes you do angel. I don’t want you getting blisters.”

Blaine made a face, but did his best approximation of sitting still so that Daddy could tie his sneakers.

“Now we go?” he asked, jumping up and hopping from one foot to the other.

“Do you need to go to the bathroom?” Noah asked, preoccupied with grabbing wallet, phone and keys.

“No,” Blaine replied, very offended. After a minute, he asked, “Can I have my cookies too Daddy? You never gived me cookies, and I want them now. Please.”

“You can have one cookie,” Noah said, already at the door.

“Three cookies?” Blaine asked, going for Kurt’s usual tactic. Ask for more than you expect, and Daddy normally let you have what you wanted.

“Go get your cookies,” Noah turned Blaine toward the kitchen with a swat. “You can have two. Grab me some too please munchkin.”

Blaine raced to the kitchen, bringing back four cookies. After handing two to Noah, he held one to his own face, sniffing appreciatively.

“I love cowboy cookies!” he told Daddy, cramming easily half the cookie in his mouth.

“I can see that,” Daddy teased, following Blaine out the door. Pulling the shorter man close to his side, he gave him a hug.

Blaine calmed down a little once they were out of the building. He still bounced, but not as much as at home. When he reached the playground though, his eyes lit up, and he raced for the jungle gym. 

Daddy couldn’t keep up with him. By the time he got there, Blaine had climbed up and then flipped himself so he was hanging upside down by the backs of his knees. Swinging back and forth, he smiled cheekily at Daddy.

“You’re slow!”

“I’m slow?” Noah asked, a dangerous smile coming across his face.

Blaine began trying to scramble back up. He knew that smile. “No tickling! No tickling Nooo-aaaaah!” 

Even as he was ordering, Daddy had caught him and begun running his fingers up and down his torso.

“I’m going to falllllll,” Blaine gasped, laughing hysterically.

Noah caught his shoulders, helping him twist and drop to his feet. Sinking to the ground, Blaine continued laughing, even as he complained, “Not fair.”

When Daddy stopped tickling, Blaine jumped up and raced away. “You’re too slow!” he called over his shoulder.

They spent the rest of their afternoon swinging and climbing when they weren’t chasing each other. The playground was just a small local place, and it was deserted.

By 5:00, Blaine had collapsed under a large tree, resting his head on Daddy’s lap and smiling as he panted.

“Did you have fun monkey?” Daddy asked, running his fingers through Blaine’s curls.

That got a nod, “I’m hungry! Can we go get dim sum?”

“We can,” Noah told him, keeping one hand entwined in Blaine’s hair so he couldn’t move. “Are you sure that you can eat your vegetables like a big boy? Without a fight angel? Because I’m not going to argue with you in public. Do you remember what we talked about?”

Blaine nodded solemnly. He wanted dim sum, and he could be good. “I ‘member Daddy. Can we go now? Please? I’m starving!”

They left the park hand in hand, Blaine getting a second wind on the way to dinner. By the time they got to the restaurant, he was back to hopping and chattering. So much for Daddy’s plan to burn off that extra energy at the park.

They sat at the table, Blaine looking around the room until Noah reached across the table to tap his hand.

“Angel? What did you want?”

“Bau bau bau!” 

Blaine tapped his fingers on the table until Noah grabbed his hands. Speaking quietly, hoping that Blaine would mirror his voice, Daddy said, “Okay, we’re going to get bau. What’s the least bad vegetable you could get?”

Blaine blushed a little, realizing that he was being very little in public, and he managed to calm himself down and make it through the meal without too much fussing. He picked at his broccoli and peppers with a fork until Noah tapped his shin and shook his head, but then he slowly ate.

With that horrible chore completed, he smiled winsomely at Noah. “Dessert?”

Noah laughed at Blaine’s face when their dessert arrived, happy to see his boyfriend so happy. After sharing their bunny marshmallows and crab pastries, they began their slow trek home.

Blaine leaned into Daddy, exhausted from their day together. Noah was quiet, hoping that the calm mood would hold until he got his kid bathed and into bed.

Blaine rallied for a little bit in the bathtub, insisting upon all of the bath toys, but he was soon back to yawning. Daddy hurried him into his pajamas.

“Daddy?” Blaine asked once he was tucked into bed and Daddy was changing.

“Yeah monkey?” Noah stopped what he was doing, turning to give Blaine his full attention. 

Blaine was on his back, picking at the blanket and avoiding eye contact. “I’m a little firsty Daddy.”

Noah furrowed his brow, confused. Blaine would normally just ask for a glass of water. After a moment, he thought, “Do you want a bottle tonight angel?”

Blaine relaxed then, looking at Noah and nodding with a smile. “Pwease Daddy.”

“I’ll be back in a minute monkey,” Noah told him, giving him a kiss. He’d always offered the bottle before; Blaine never asked for it. 

He hurried to the kitchen to warm some milk, then brought it back to Blaine. “Are you feeling big enough to hold it yourself, or do you need some help?”

“I can do it,” Blaine said quietly. Noah handed him the bottle, and Blaine held it firmly between both hands, watching Noah with big eyes. He didn’t drink it.

Daddy was busy getting ready for bed, and he didn’t notice the untouched milk until he climbed into bed.

“What happened to ‘I can do it’?” Daddy asked.

Blaine shrugged, curling up tightly to Noah’s side. He didn’t argue with Daddy took the bottle from him and slid it into his mouth.

“Guess somebody’s not feeling so big tonight,” he commented quietly.

Blaine drank quietly, not responding to that for several minutes. Finally, he asked, “Is okay?”

“Is what okay munchkin?” 

Avoiding eye contact, Blaine said, “Is okay I’m not so big?”

Daddy hugged him tightly. “It’s okay for you to be however big you feel,” he reassured.

“You telled me to be a big boy today before dinner,” Blaine reminded him.

“I needed you to act big for me because we were outside,” Daddy explained. “When we’re at home though, you can be as little as you are.”

“Kurt’s bigger.”

Noah leaned forward to kiss the top of Blaine’s head. It always came back to this, moreso for Blaine than for Kurt. “He’s older,” he agreed.

“Is better?”

Squeezing Blaine tightly, Daddy told him, “All I care about is that you and Kurt are happy. Kurt and I love that you’re little, but we love you. No matter how big you are.”

Blaine nodded at that, wrinkles in his forehead smoothing out as he drank his bottle. He finished his milk, and Daddy turned off the light.

“Love you Daddy,” Blaine murmured, hugging Noah tightly.

“Love you too angel.”

They lay in the dark for a minute, before Blaine asked, “Can we make funny face pancakes tomorrow?”

Noah snorted, “Go to bed.”

“But can we?”

“Go to sleep,” Noah told him, kissing him firmly. “We’ll talk about it in the morning.”

The next morning, Noah woke up to Blaine burrowed into his side, breathing snuffily through his nose with his thumb in his mouth. When Daddy stirred, Blaine looked up, blinking sleepily.

“Hi Daddy,” he said, thumb still in his mouth, before he buried his face back against Daddy. 

Noah smiled, running his fingers through Blaine’s hair. He’d forgotten how nice it was to wake up with just one kid. Regardless of what else was going on, one of them always wanted to hop right out of bed while the other wanted to rest. It would be nice to laze in bed until Blaine was ready to get up without any complaints.

Blaine seemed to have the same thought, since he fell back asleep almost instantly. He slept for another hour before he was ready to get up.

“Daddy? I’m hungry,” he mumbled. 

Noah hadn’t been sleeping, opting to simply cuddle with Blaine and drowse, and he nodded, “You want funny face pancakes?”

“Uh huh,” Blaine nodded at him. “Do we have coconut?”

“Let’s go see,” Daddy suggested, getting out of bed. 

Blaine stood up on the bed, then fell forward against Daddy’s back. “Carry,” he instructed.

“Someone’s bossy this morning,” Daddy commented, even as he stood still for Blaine to wrap his legs around him. 

Resting his chin on Daddy’s shoulder, Blaine kept one hand around Noah’s neck and the thumb on the other hand in his mouth. He corrected, “‘m not so bossy. Daddies are ‘posed to give piggy back rides.”

“Well, if I’m ‘posed to,” Daddy joked, patting at Blaine’s butt.

Blaine sighed in contentment. He missed Kurt, but it wasn’t so bad getting everything he wanted.

“Do we have bananas?”

“I know we have bananas,” Daddy told Blaine. “We’ve definitely got bananas, and we have pancake mix and blueberries.”

“No blueberries,” Blaine told him. “I wan’ choc’late chips.”

Daddy set him down on a chair, turning to give him a kiss. “No chocolate for breakfast monkey. We have raspberries? How does that sound?”

Blaine hopped off the chair, walking to the refrigerator and opening it. “No raspberries Daddy! Eyes can’t be red! They’re brown!”

“I don’t think I’d want brown berries,” Daddy told him, pulling ingredients from the cupboard. “We do have coconut.”

“Is why we need to use choc’late Daddy! Just for the eyes? Pleeeeease?”

Daddy pulled the chocolate chips down, giving Blaine a look. “You can have a few chocolate chips,” he conceded. “You have to have fruit on yours too though munchkin.”

“I mix it Daddy?” Kurt never let him mix, and Blaine took to the task with gusto. Noah decided not to think about what Kurt would say if he saw the state of his kitchen right now; Blaine was having way too much fun to worry.

“I flip too?”

“I don’t know monkey,” Daddy looked at him for a moment, trying to gauge his age. “Are you feeling bigger than you were yesterday?”

Blaine bit his lip, then slowly shook his head. He wouldn’t make eye contact with Daddy, and Noah pulled him in for a hug.

“Then I think no monkey. Can you help by cutting up the bananas though?”

Blaine nodded solemnly, and Daddy set him up at the counter with a cutting board and a plastic knife. “Be careful with that angel. I don’t think we need any cuts on little fingers.”

“‘k Daddy!”

After watching Blaine carefully begin his task, Noah turned back to the stove. “Are we having monkey funny face pancakes today, or do you want just regular?”

“You can make monkeys?” Blaine looked up, intrigued by that idea. “You always make the reg’lar ones for Kurt an’ me.”

“I think I can handle monkey faces. Is that what you want?”

“Yes please Daddy. Thank you,” Blaine was back to slowly and methodically cutting the bananas. When that was accomplished, he hopped down and went to watch Daddy.

“Can you get me plates?”

It took careful, step by step instructions, but Blaine managed to handle most of the rest of the breakfast prep while Daddy cooked the pancakes. It wasn’t anything big, but he managed to get the chocolate chips poured into a small bowl (sneaking several as he did that), the coconut in another bowl, and washed the strawberries. Daddy had to cut them though.

“You are being such a good helper today,” Daddy praised, pouring orange juice and cutting the strawberries quickly.

Blaine was occupied with decorating his pancake, but he smiled. When Daddy sat down next to him, Blaine cuddled against him, picking at his meal with his fingers.

“Fork munchkin,” Daddy reminded, handing him the utensil.

Blaine carefully cut his pancakes with the side of his fork, giving a little moan of satisfaction at the banana, coconut, strawberries, and chocolate. After eating a few bites, he said, “We go to the zoo today Daddy?”

“Is that what you want to do angel?”

“Yes please.”

“Alright, then we need to finish breakfast, then we’ll shower and get dressed before we can go. Can you help me clean up the kitchen?”

Blaine nodded, “Uh huh. Kurt wouldn’t like it if we maked a mess.”

No, he would not. And Noah didn’t particularly relish the idea of cleaning up late Sunday, racing to get everything done before bedtime. So they finished their breakfasts, Daddy cajoling Blaine into eating two pancakes, then they cleaned the kitchen.

Blaine slowed a bit in the shower, since showering with Daddy was unusual. He liked it, and he got a little bit distracted from his plans about the zoo. Once they were out of the shower though, Blaine was back to his usual warp speed, wanting to get dressed and go. Finally, they were ready to leave the apartment, and Blaine was bouncing around.

“Calm down angel. We need to get our coats.”

“‘m not an angel Daddy. ‘m a kang’roo.”

“Okay ‘kang’roo boy,’ but we can’t leave unless we’ve got coats. It’s colder out today.”

With a sigh, Blaine managed to force himself to hold still while Daddy helped him into his jacket and then zipped it. Daddy decided it was best to have the discussion before they left.

Taking Blaine’s shoulders in his hands, Daddy started, “You know what the rules are for when we’re in public?”

“Stay wif Daddy. Don’t wander off. Don’t argue. No whining. Be good.” Blaine ticked them off on his fingers. “I can be good Daddy! We’re going to have so much fun!”

Noah smiled, “Okay munchkin; I know you can be good. I want you to hold my hand though, alright?”

“‘m not a baby! I don’t need to hold hands!” 

Daddy insisting upon holding hands usually only happened when one of them was having a wandering problem. And it was usually Blaine now, since Daddy had pretty much cured Kurt of that particular behavior with baby time back when they were all in high school. Blaine actually kind of liked baby time (although he’d deny it), so that wasn’t effective.

“You’re not a baby,” Daddy said placatingly, “You’re my big boy. But I need to know where you are. If you can’t promise to hold my hand while we’re at the zoo, then we’ll have to stay here where I know that you’re not going to get lost.”

Blaine’s hand shot out, grabbing Daddy’s. “I can do it! I can be a good boy and see the g’rillas and the monkeys and the fuzzy piggies.” 

“Promise me?” 

Blaine took promises very serious, and Daddy knew that if he got a promise, it was very likely that they’d not have problems with that particular behavior.

Crossing his heart, Blaine nodded, “I promise I hold your hand Daddy. Now we go to the zoo?”

“And see the gorillas and the monkeys and the fuzzy piggies?” Daddy asked.

“Uh huh, an’ the lions and tigers and bears oh my!” 

Blaine jumped up and down a little, and Noah decided it was time to go. No reason to put off trying to wear him out.

Blaine skipped a little bit as he held Daddy’s hand, “I wanna see the g’rillas and the monkeys!”

“I know angel,” Daddy told him. “And the weird furry pig thing.”

Blaine was his usual sunny self at the zoo, no hints of the solemn little boy that Daddy had been seeing lately. They’d been through more than half the zoo before his tummy started rumbling.

“I’m hungry,” he mumbled pressing close to Noah.

“You’re hungry?” Noah asked, pressing his lips to Blaine’s forehead. “Should we stop and eat something before we look at more animals?”

“Please.”

Daddy began walking toward the nearest restaurant, towing Blaine behind him. They got into line together, Blaine scanning the menu as they moved forward.

“Peanut butter,” he said decisively.

“Carrots?” Daddy asked, looking at their options in the display case in front of them. 

“Gwapes. I don’t wan’ veg’tables.”

Daddy didn’t dignify that with a response, grabbing a container of baby carrots and another of red grapes. After ordering their sandwiches and getting drinks, they went to sit in a booth.

Blaine ate his sandwich and grapes without complaint, although his gaze was darting around the room. When Daddy pushed the carrots toward him, Blaine scowled and shook his head.

“I telled you I didn’ wan’ them,” he said, pushing the carton toward Daddy. He could eat the carrots if he wanted to. Blaine would eat his grapes.

“Blaine Riley,” Daddy said, voice low. “Do you remember how our discussion about vegetables went yesterday?”

“I don’t yike them,” Blaine whined, leaning into Daddy’s side.

Daddy nodded sympathetically, but pushed the carrots back toward Blaine. “Seven of them please, then we can go look at the animals some more.”

With a sigh, Blaine slowly counted out seven baby carrots, putting them on the plate from his sandwich. He unhappily ate them, stopping often to drink his chocolate milk.

“Good boy,” Daddy praised, under his breath. They cleared up their mess, then went back to look at the animals. As usual, Blaine spent the most time with the various primate exhibits, watching them intently. 

By two, Blaine was starting to drag, and Daddy decided it was time to go home.

When Blaine made a face, Noah leaned forward. “I think,” Daddy told Blaine, lifting their entwined hands to his mouth so he could kiss Blaine’s knuckles, “that you have been very good for me today.”

Blaine blushed, leaning against Daddy. “I didn’t wanna eat my carrots at lunch,” he admitted.

“Nope. But you did when I reminded you that you needed to listen. In fact, I think you did such a good job behaving yourself that we should stop at the gift shop and pick out a toy. What do you think?”

Blaine grinned at that. “Really?”

Daddy didn’t say anything, simply tugging Blaine into the store and over to the toys. “What looks good to you monkey?” he asked quietly. It was Saturday, and the zoo was pretty crowded.

Blaine thoughtfully ran his fingers over various objects, finally stopping at a tube of small plastic animals.

“This?” he asked, smiling at Daddy. 

Noah was surprised, but happy, that they were not taking home stuffed animals. Blaine loved Boofus, but the nightmare tantrum when he was “misplaced” was not to be repeated. Daddy did not want to have to keep track of another lovey.

“This is the one you want?” Daddy asked him, looking at the animals. They had several different sets, but Blaine had (unsurprisingly) chosen the primates. Daddy considered the other sets, asking Blaine, “Should we bring something home for Kurt too?”

That got a nod and a little skip. “I pick?” Blaine asked. It was good to take home something for Kurt; Blaine missed him.

Daddy let Blaine pick out a second set, this time jungle animals. After grabbing a third sleeve with polar bears and seals, Daddy turned to the cash register. Blaine tugged at his hand, gesturing at the toys he’d picked.

“Another?”

“What? You think I don’t want some?”

Blaine giggled at the idea of Daddy wanting to play with the toy animals, but he happily followed Daddy up to check out. He carried the bag with their purchases out, and they started toward the entrance.

Right before they got there, Blaine saw the hedgehogs, and he stopped, watching them with an odd expression on his face.

Daddy repositioned himself behind Blaine, hugging him and letting Blaine lean back into him. “They’re funny; aren’t they?”

“Uh huh,” Blaine said quietly, watching them intently.

Daddy gave him a few more minutes before he said, “Come on angel. Let’s go home and take a nap.”

“Wanna watch ‘em some more.”

“I think someone’s getting pretty sleepy,” Daddy murmured in Blaine’s ear. Normally, Blaine was eager to nap, provided that someone stayed with him. Not today.

“Maybe you are.”

That was sassier than Noah was used to for Blaine, and he let one of his hands slide down Blaine’s waist, patting at his hip in warning.

“Come on baby,” he whispered.

That was not the right thing to say, and Blaine got upset, “Not Kurt.”

Daddy had to think for a minute, figuring out what he had said wrong. When he realized that he’d slipped up and called Blaine ‘baby’, he apologized.

“Sorry munchkin. Daddy wasn’t thinking. I know you’re my angel. Let’s go home.”

Blaine turned around so he could hug Daddy and bury his face against him for a minute. After soaking in that comfort, Blaine nodded, and grasping Daddy’s hand tightly, they walked to the exit.

Once they got into the car, Blaine pulled his feet up on the seat and wrapped his arms around them.

“Monkey?” Daddy said, rubbing Blaine’s shoulders, “Do you need to ride in the back?”

Blaine shook his head, not looking up. After a minute, he mumbled, “I miss Kurt.”

“I know munchkin. He’ll be back day after tomorrow.”

“I want him now,” Blaine insisted, voice cracking.

Daddy had been waiting for this since Kurt left; the only thing that surprised him is how long it took. “Kurt’s going to come home on Monday. Until then, it’s just you and me, but we can have fun together.”

Blaine shook his head.

Noah hadn’t wanted to do this. Kurt was having his weekend with Mercedes, and he would call if he needed them. But, Blaine needed Kurt right now, and so Daddy offered, “Do you want to try calling Kurt?”

“We can call Kurt?” Blaine looked up at this, eyes bright with unshed tears. He hadn’t known that they could do that.

“Of course we can call Kurt,” Daddy reached over to run his fingers through Blaine’s curls. “Would that make you feel better monkey?”

Blaine nodded, “Right now!”

Daddy shook his head at that, “No angel. We’re going to drive home, then we can call Kurt once we get there.”

Blaine buckled his seatbelt then, reaching over to turn the key in the ignition. That got him a tap to the back of the hand, but he bounced a little. 

“Come on Daddy! We gots to go home so I can talk to Kurt! Can I tell him we buyed him a present?”

Noah laughed, starting the car and beginning their drive home. “If you’d like.”

“Uh huh! I can tell him we buyed him a present so he knows I miss him lots and lots and lots. But no tellin’ what we getted him ‘cause it’s a s’prise!”

“Alright,” Noah was smiling, happy at Blaine’s obvious excitement.

Blaine bounced the rest of the way home, chattering away about what they had to tell his Kurt. When they got home, Blaine practically flew from the car and up to their apartment. Then, he had to wait restlessly, shifting from one foot to the next for Daddy to join him.

As soon as Daddy opened the door, Blaine spilled inside, tugging at Daddy. “We call Kurt now? Please!?!?!”

“Let’s get your jeans and shoes off. After we talk to Kurt, then it’s time for a nap.” Daddy tried to lead Blaine back to the bedroom, but Blaine stood his ground.

“I need a drink first Daddy. I’m very very very firsty from walking around the zoo. An’ prolly a cookie too because the zoo maked me hungry.”

Noah went to the kitchen, grabbing two cookies and handing them to Blaine. After considering the open cupboard, he grabbed a bottle rather than a sippy cup. Filling it with ice water, he turned back to Blaine. 

“Alright munchkin. Now it’s time to go get settled into bed so we can call Kurt then nap.”

Blaine followed behind Daddy. After stripping down to his teeshirt and underwear, he climbed into bed. “You nap too?”

Daddy nodded, getting into bed beside Blaine. Holding his cell phone, he began dialing, only to be stopped by Blaine’s hand.

“Daddy?”

Noah looked at Blaine, waiting for him to continue. 

“You not tell Kurt I’m little little right now? Okay?”

Noah put down the phone, pulling Blaine tightly to him so they could cuddle a minute while they talked. “Kurt’s going to think that you being little little is adorable. Because it is.”

Blaine bit his lip, taking that in. “But no tell him right now Daddy. He can fink I’m ‘dorable when he gets home.”

Daddy nodded, deciding it wasn’t worth the argument. He was thinking that Kurt was going to pick up on it rather easily when he heard Blaine talk, but there was no reason to worry about that now. Dialing the phone, he breathed a sigh of relief when Kurt woke up.

“Hi baby,” he greeted. “I’ve got somebody here who is missing you.”

Blaine tugged at Daddy’s arm, whispering, “Tell him lots and lots and lots Daddy.”

“You tell him monkey,” Daddy handed Blaine the phone, surprised to see Blaine suddenly shy. “Go on. Tell Kurt all about what we’ve been doing.”

Blaine didn’t say anything, but Daddy could hear Kurt talking. Taking the phone back, he turned on the speakerphone.

“You’re on speaker baby. Somebody’s feeling a little bit shy.”

“‘cedes and I went to get massages and facials!” 

“That sounds like fun. Blaine, can you tell Kurt what we did today?”

Blaine had curled tightly against Daddy, thumb in his mouth, but he said, “We went to the zoo.”

“We went to the zoo,” Daddy agreed. “We made funny face pancakes,” he prompted.

Blaine’s face lit up, and he said, “Daddy maked them look like monkeys Kurt!”

Kurt made a little noise, then said, “No fair! You never did that when I was home.”

“Is okay Kurt! We make monkey pancakes when you come home too.” Blaine looked at Daddy, tugging on his arm a little. “Right Daddy? You would make monkey pancakes for Kurt too.”

“Of course I would,” Noah said, concerned by Blaine’s response. Kurt had mostly sounded teasing, but Blaine was looking a little panicky. “We could have breakfast for dinner on Monday after we pick Kurt up. How does that sound?”

“See Kurt? Daddy will make you monkey pancakes too! When you come home. You come home on Monday. And we buyed you a present! For when you come home.”

Noah was gratified to hear Kurt’s response. “You bought me a present? I can’t wait to see it! I miss you lots Blainers.”

“You’re having fun with Mercedes,” Blaine said quietly.

“Yeah, but that’s because we shop together. You don’t want to shop. But I get to do fun stuff with you and Daddy that I can’t do with ‘cedes.”

“You come home on Monday,” Blaine said quietly.

“I come home on Monday, and I can’t wait to see you. You’re going to love the presents I bought for you and Daddy.”

Blaine nodded, “I see you Monday.”

Daddy decided to break in then. Blaine was quiet and sad, and Daddy was hoping that a nap would help with that. “Alright boys. I know one little monkey who needs to take a nap after our zoo trip. And I’m guessing that someone else should be resting a little bit too. We’ll see you on Monday baby. Be good.”

“I’m good!” Kurt said, faux offended. “I’ll see you Monday. Love you Daddy. Love you my Blainers.”

“Love you Kurt,” Blaine mumbled.

“Alright baby. We love you. See you later.”

Hanging up, Noah cuddled against Blaine. “Shall we have your bottle then take a little rest?”

“Kurt comes home on Monday.”

“Yeah. He comes home on Monday, and you guys are going to play together while I make monkey pancakes.” Daddy maneuvered Blaine so he could cradle him. He tugged gently at Blaine’s thumb, replacing it with the bottle. “Drink your water munchkin.”

Blaine was quiet while he drank, thinking. Having Daddy all to himself wasn’t as much fun as he had thought it would be. Well, it was fun, but he missed Kurt, and that was kind of ruining it.

Spitting the nipple out, he said, “Only if Kurt wants monkey pancakes. We should let him pick dinner because I getted to pick breakfast twice and dinner once. Is his turn.”

“You picked because Kurt isn’t here. He’s having fun with Mercedes, but he’ll come home on Monday. It’s nice that you’re trying to be fair, but you don’t need to worry about that. Do you think that I’m fair?”

Blaine nodded, allowing Daddy to slide the bottle back into his mouth.

“Then let Daddy worry about making sure that things are fair. What are you supposed to worry about?”

Blaine smiled. He knew the answer to that one. “Be good for Daddy and be nice.”

“That’s right. You worry about that, and I’ll worry about making sure that you and Kurt are okay.”

“Kurt comes back on Monday.”

“Yeah angel,” Daddy reassured, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. “Kurt comes back on Monday. He went on a fun little vacation, but he’s coming back because he loves us, and we love him. And he’d come back even if I was making brussels sprouts and liver for dinner on Monday.”

Blaine made a face, giggling. “No brussels sprouts Daddy! Yuck!”

“No, no brussels sprouts. We’ll come up with a fun welcome home dinner, but even if we didn’t, Kurt would want to come home.”

“Because we love him,” Blaine said quietly, sounding a bit as though he were double checking.

Daddy nodded, “Because we love him, and he loves us.” Smiling, he asked, “Do you remember how much we love each other, or do you need me to remind you?”

Blaine giggled nervously, shaking his head and trying to press down into the mattress. “No Daddy! I know how much! You don’t need to ‘mind me.”

“Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots,” Noah said, pinning Blaine to the mattress so he could pretend to gobble at his neck.

“Tickles!”

“And lots and lots and lots and lots and lots!” Noah told him, ignoring his thrashing around. 

“I know! Lots and lots Daddy! No more tickles!”

Noah leaned back, smiling at Blaine. “You sure? Because I can keep explaining it to you if you’re having trouble.”

Blaine was trying valiantly to not smile. “I know Daddy; no more ‘splaining it to me. You’re all scratchy today.”

Noah leaned forward to kiss him once, properly. “Alright. You let me know if you need a reminder.”

“You shave af’er the nap please,” Blaine instructed. “But af’er Daddy, really not now. Because I wan’ you to nap wif me. ‘member? You sayed you nap wif me.”

“I’ll nap with you. Close your eyes munchkin,” Daddy waited until Blaine listened. Then, he relaxed against him, and they slept.

When they woke up, Blaine pushed and pulled Daddy into the bathroom, watching him shave. When Noah was all done, Blaine kissed him, running one hand down his cheek.

“Perfect Daddy.”

“I’m glad it meets your standards,” Daddy teased. “What would you like to do now?”

“Are we going to eat here?”

Noah smiled, pushing Blaine toward the living room, “Yes, we’re going to eat here. We went out last night.”

Blaine climbed up on the couch, bouncing a little, “We make pizza Daddy?”

“Will you eat salad for me?” Noah picked Blaine up, “And what did I say about jumping on the furniture?”

“Dat it was fun,” Blaine told him, smiling cheekily.

“Oh? I told you it was fun to jump on the furniture?”

Blaine nodded, “You sayed it was the most fun ever.” He made his eyes wide, trying to look serious for a moment before he cracked up.

“Oh, I know I didn’t say that,” Noah teased, swatting Blaine before he set him down. “You want to make pizza for dinner?”

“Uh huh!” 

Noah shook his head. Apparently, his plans to wear Blaine out didn’t work so well. “We’re having salad too.”

“‘k Daddy! We have the salad wif strawberries?”

“Will you eat the actual salad? Not just the fruit?”

“Is spinach Daddy,” Blaine said, making a face.

Noah sighed, “We can make something else if you’d like.”

“We have cucumbers and dip?”

Having agreed on that, Daddy and Blaine made the dough, Blaine thrilled to be able to help in the kitchen again. He was so happy that he actually managed to stand in one place while he kneaded the dough. Daddy made a mental note to include Blaine more in cooking; he seemed to really like it.

When the dough was resting, Blaine smiled at Daddy. “We bake cookies too Daddy? Kurt yikes cookies; we make him some.”

Daddy knew that they didn’t need cookies. The cookie jar was still half-full. But Blaine looked so excited, and it was something to do while they waited for the dough to rise.

“Alright munchkin. What kind of cookies are we making?”

“Peanut butter wif little candies in ‘em?”

“We don’t have any snickers bars sweetheart.”

Blaine nodded, smiling wide. “Kurt hided dem from you so you don’t eat ‘em.” 

Dragging a chair to the refrigerator, he climbed up and began poking through the cupboard above it. At the very back, he found what he was looking for, handing it down to Daddy.

“See?” he said triumphantly, hopping off the chair and putting it away.

Daddy was surprised, and he gave Blaine a look. “And how exactly did Kurt keep you from eating this candy?”

Blaine shrugged, pulling out peanut butter and flour, “He telled me not to.”

Daddy snorted at that. Of course, if Kurt told him not to, Blaine would avoid the candy. Daddy had to treat gummy vitamins like a controlled substance, but a simple no from Kurt was enough to keep him from eating a bag of mini snickers.

Deciding that was a discussion for another night, Daddy helped Blaine mix the ingredients, ignoring Blaine swiping bits of dough. He drew the line at Blaine eating the candy though.

“You can have two of those now, or you can wait until they’re cookies, but that’s it for sugar today munchkin. You’ve had enough.”

Blaine made a face, but he rolled the candy he was holding into a chunk of dough. “Cookies later,” he said resolutely.

They finished the cookies, and Daddy slid them into the oven to bake. By the time they had done that, it was time to make pizza too.

“Daddy? Can you make the pizza look like a monkey too?” Blaine asked, making puppy dog eyes. Daddy had never done that before, but if he could make monkey pancakes, then he could shape the pizza dough to look like a monkey too. Pro’bly. “Please Daddy?”

Daddy was less convinced of his cooking prowess, “I don’t know monkey,” he said. “I don’t think that the pizza would cook right...”

“Please Daddy?” Blaine grabbed Noah’s hands, tugging a little bit, “Just try it?”

Noah caved. Worst case scenario, the pizza didn’t turn out right, and they had to order something or eat sandwiches. It wasn’t a big deal. “Okay munchkin, but I don’t know if it’ll work. If it doesn’t, we’re going to have to eat something else for dinner. Understand?”

“It’ll work Daddy!” Blaine nodded fervently.

“But if it doesn’t...”

“Then we eat something else. But not brussels sprouts and liver Daddy.” Blaine knew Daddy’s sense of humour, and he didn’t want to be teased about eating something yucky.

Noah nodded, dumping out some flour, then considering the pizza dough. After a moment, he decided to just start and see what happened. Blaine went to the stools on the other side of the counter, kneeling up on one so he could watch Daddy intently. It was the stillest that Daddy had seen him all day.

“See? It looks good Daddy!”

Noah nodded. It wasn’t the way it looked that concerned him. “Okay munchkin, but remember, it might not cook evenly still.”

“Will be fine Daddy. Is it my turn now?”

“Get the sauce monkey,” Daddy told him. He definitely had to make sure that Blaine helped more in the kitchen. He was so eager, and he really did need to learn how to cook.

Noah leaned against the counter, watching as Blaine carefully poured the jar of tomato sauce on the crust. “Not too much,” he cautioned.

He got a look from Blaine, “I can do it Daddy.”

“Okay,” Noah held up his hands in surrender. It was just pizza; no big deal if it didn’t turn out right.

“Daddy, you get cheese for me please?”

Noah handed the cheese over, then went back to watching Blaine.

Blaine told him, “You sit down now. I can do it.”

Reminding himself that it was just pizza, and that he didn’t need to micromanage Blaine, Noah sat down on a stool. He watched Blaine with a smile on his face. Blaine had stuck his tongue between his teeth, clearly concentrating on putting all of the cheese down exactly where he wanted it.

When everything was how he had planned it, Blaine looked up, grinning. “You want pep’roni too?”

Noah started to stand up to get it, nodding, but Blaine waved him off.

“I can do it Daddy.”

Sitting back down, Noah watched as Blaine made a face on the pizza with the pepperoni. “See? I did it.”

“I see,” Daddy told him. “It looks perfect,” he praised. “Are you so big that you’re going to put it in the oven?”

Daddy had been teasing, but Blaine’s eyes widened and he shook his head no. “No oven Daddy! The oven is hot! It’s not for little boys! You said!”

“Okay munchkin. I was just kidding,” Noah told him, getting the pizza into the oven. “I know you’re too little for the oven.” He pulled out the cookies, then turned to look at Blaine. “What’re we going to do while it cooks?”

Blaine wordlessly held out his arms, and Daddy obligingly picked him up. “Do you need cuddles?”

That got a nod, and Blaine’s thumb went into his mouth. “Boofus and my blanket too Daddy? Please?” he mumbled.

They ended up sitting on the couch with Boofus, Blaine sucking his thumb and cuddling against Daddy. He didn’t want books or songs, and he didn’t want to talk.

When the timer went off, Daddy had to get the pizza out of the oven. “Do you wanna eat out here munchkin?”

Blaine followed Daddy to the kitchen. He shrugged, and Noah decided to get out two plates. Rather than ask Blaine to set the table, Daddy did it himself. Filling a sippy cup with milk and getting a glass of water for himself, Daddy made sure to touch Blaine every time he passed by, running his fingers through Blaine’s hair and kissing him. He wasn’t sure why Blaine was quiet again, but he had some theories. Not for the first time, Daddy thought that his life would be a lot easier if Blaine could just say what was bothering him.

Since Daddy didn’t forsee that happening any time soon, he decided to start testing theories. He’d go with the most likely one first, and that meant that he couldn’t keep having Blaine help him with things.

So Daddy sliced up cucumbers, grabbing a bell pepper as well. He’d never tried having Blaine eat those raw, but he remembered that his younger sister liked them that way. Grabbing the ranch dressing, Daddy began ferrying things out to the table.

“I help?” Blaine offered, already standing up.

Daddy shook his head, making sure to hug Blaine as he said, “Nope. You were a big help earlier, but you’re pretty little now. Can you wash your hands, or do you need Daddy’s help with that.”

“I do it,” Blaine said, walking quietly over to the sink. He scrubbed his hands under the water, and Noah watched the muscles in his back. They seemed a little less tense. Maybe.

“Good job,” Daddy praised. “Thank you. You’re being a very good listener today. Can you go and sit down? Dinner’s done.”

Blaine smiled a little as he went to sit down. He reached for a slice of pizza when Daddy put it down, but he got the back of his hand tapped.

“No no. It’s hot still. Let me cut it up.”

If he had been expecting a whine, it didn’t come. Instead, Blaine sat back in his chair, watching Daddy cut up his pizza. When he was handed his plate, Blaine carefully picked up a fork, watching Daddy.

“Do you need help eating?”

That got a shaken head finally, and Daddy nodded. “Then go ahead and eat munchkin.”

Daddy served Blaine some veggies, mostly cucumbers with only one bell pepper strip. Blaine pushed it away with a grimace.

“I don’ wan’ it.”

Daddy fixed him with a look, “You’re going to try it. If you don’t like it, then you don’t have to eat anymore. But you are going to try that one.”

Blaine made a face, poking at the offensive food with his fork.

“Blaine Riley,” Daddy warned, “little boys who don’t eat their veggies don’t get cookies after dinner.”

Slowly, Blaine picked up his bell pepper strip, dipping it in dressing. Bringing it up to his mouth, he looked at Daddy.

“Take a bite,” Noah said patiently.

Grimacing, Blaine took the tiniest bite he possibly could. Chewing it quickly, he put the pepper back down.

“You have to eat the entire thing angel. Might as well just do it.” When Blaine didn’t do as he was told, Daddy sighed. Reaching out with a fork, he cut the strip into two pieces. Spearing one piece with the fork, he dipped it in dressing before holding it to Blaine’s lips.

“No Daddy. I don’t yike it.”

Noah shook his head, “You didn’t even try enough to know whether you like it or not. Open up.”

Blaine pouted, and Noah’s voice became sharper, “One.”

That got a response. Blaine opened his mouth instantly. Counting was bad; Daddy did not like having to count, and Blaine did not like what happened when Daddy got to three. He slowly chewed the bell pepper strip.

It was actually not awful. Kind of sweet. When Blaine swallowed, he opened his mouth again expectantly.

Noah raised an eyebrow, surprised that Blaine was asking, even if it was nonverbal, for the last bite. He decided not to say anything, just making sure to get dressing on the vegetable before he held it up.

After chewing and swallowing, Blaine considered the remaining vegetables. He ate the cucumbers rather quickly. They were just like crunchy water; if he had to eat a vegetable, they were the least yucky. 

The bell pepper was okay, and Blaine kind of wanted to try more. Not wanting to say that, he pushed his plate toward Daddy.

“More please.”

“More pizza?” Daddy asked. Blaine still had half of the pizza Daddy had given him on his plate.

Blaine shook his head, not making eye contact.

“Do you want more peppers or more cucumbers.”

Blaine just shrugged, and Noah took that as acknowledgement that maybe Daddy making him eat bell peppers had not been quite the torture he expected. He gave Blaine some more. He was definitely going to have to make sure that they did this more often. Maybe the trick was to make sure Blaine got ranch dressing? Or it could be just that Daddy fed him...

“Is that okay?” Daddy asked, watching as Blaine slowly ate another piece of pepper.

Blaine made a face, “I don’t yike them,” he explained. “Is not so bad though.” Taking another bite, he said, “Kurt would prob’ly like them though Daddy, so we could maybe have them again.”

That was as close as Daddy was going to get to Blaine acknowledging that a vegetable was not horrible, but Noah would take it. They finished eating their dinner. The pizza was surprisingly okay, if perhaps a bit overdone around the ears. 

When they finished, Daddy cleaned up. He let Blaine take plates to the sink, but then he got him set up at the counter with coloring books and crayons.

“Will you make me a picture angel?”

“I help with cleaning up Daddy,” Blaine told him, watching Noah worriedly. Helping was good; it wasn’t fair for Daddy to do all of the work.

“Not right now monkey. Do you want your cookies?”

“I want them, but not now. Later. My tummy is full.” Blaine was looking at the picture he’d chosen, but he smiled when Noah stopped to give him a hug. “Why you huggin’ on me now Daddy? You gots to clean up so we can have fun.”

“I’m hugging you because I love you. And what kind of fun are you expecting?”

“We watch movie now? We didn’t watch no TV today.” 

Daddy had strange ideas about the amount of television that Blaine and Kurt needed. It wasn’t like any of the three of them loved to watch TV, but Blaine liked to sit and watch cartoons. Daddy said it wasn’t good for him to do that too much.

“What would you like to watch munchkin?” Daddy asked, putting away leftovers and washing dishes.

Blaine watched him, “Daddy, I can help you. I’m a good helper.”

“I know you are angel,” Daddy told him, “but what did I tell you?”

Blaine sighed heavily. Daddy normally let him ask for stuff a couple of times before he got picky about having to remind. “Sit and color.”

“And that means?”

Blaine’s voice was quiet now, and he was staring hard at the picture rather than at Daddy. “Sit and color. Sorry. I just wan’ help you because is nice, but I can listen good now Daddy. Promise.”

Daddy stopped to hug Blaine again. He had been trying to be gentle, but he had clearly not been. Or at least, he hadn’t been gentle enough.

“Can you be my big helper and go pick out a movie for us? Or do you want to make me a beautiful picture?”

“I can help,” Blaine told him, hopping down from his stool. After carefully putting crayons back in their container, and stacking it on the coloring book, he trotted out to the living room.

Noah focused on getting the rest of dinner cleaned up. He didn’t want the kitchen to be a disaster when Kurt got home, but he also didn’t want to leave Blaine alone for any longer than absolutely necessary. 

When he got into the living room, he found Blaine, sitting on an afghan, on the floor. He’d pulled the blanket off the back of the couch, and after putting Boofus and his blanket in there, along with a handful of blocks, he’d apparently exiled himself to the makeshift playpen.

“What’s this?” Daddy asked him, sitting down.

“I’m not being a good listener,” Blaine said. He was stacking the blocks in front of himself, and he wouldn’t look at Daddy. “Watch Up please Daddy. Is okay?”

“Come ‘ere monkey,” Daddy said, standing up and hauling Blaine up with a groan. “You’re not in trouble. You needed a little reminder to listen, but it wasn’t trouble. Everybody forgets stuff sometimes.”

“I didn’ listen ‘bout the carrots at lunch or ‘bout sitting and coloring. ‘m a bad list’ner.”

“Nope,” Daddy said, sitting on the couch with Blaine in his lap. “You had a couple of times today when you needed reminders, but you aren’t a bad anything.”

Blaine sniffled a little, pressing his face against Daddy. He was wrong. Blaine didn’t know how to put it all into words though, and he settled for letting himself cry.

“Oh monkey,” Daddy said, sounding surprised. “Stop. Blaine. You’re not in trouble. You’ve been so good for me this weekend, and I’m really proud of you.”

Blaine simply cried harder. Kurt had left, and he was having a good time with ‘cedes, and he was prob’ly never coming back to Blaine because why would he want to spend time with Blaine? And if Kurt didn’t come home, then Daddy would leave too, and they’d go and live in Chicago and be happy together there. They’d prob’ly forget all about Blaine who was stupid and a baby and not good at anything.

“Angel,” Daddy murmured, kissing him. “Don’t cry. Everything’s fine.”

Blaine shook his head, “Isn’t,” he sobbed.

“There’s nothing to be sad about monkey; what’s so bad that you need to cry about it?”

Blaine managed to babble out some convoluted version of what he had been thinking about, that Kurt was never coming home and Daddy would leave too. Noah didn’t catch all of it, but he had a pretty good idea of what was going on by the time Blaine ended with, “An’ I try bein’ good for you Daddy, but I keep messin’ up.”

Daddy had no idea what he should say to all of that. They’d talked about Blaine’s anxiety before, but this was probably the worst it had been since right after the three of them had started dating. Rocking a little bit, Daddy rubbed Blaine’s back and thought.

“You know how much I love you?” he finally murmured.

Blaine sniffled, pressed against Daddy, “Lots and lots.”

“That’s right. Lots and lots and lots and lots. And it doesn’t matter if you listen or not, or if you eat your vegetables or not, or if you throw temper tantrums. I still love you. Kurt still loves you. Whether you feel like you’re a baby or not, we love you.”

“What if Kurt doesn’t like me bein’ little?” Blaine mumbled into Daddy’s chest. Daddy seemed like it was maybe okay, but prob’ly Kurt wouldn’t like it.

“Kurt is going to love you like this munchkin. I promise.”

“You don’t know.”

“I do,” Noah said easily, rocking Blaine slowly. “I’m the daddy. I know everything.”

“Do not.”

Noah rocked, “Do so. Kurt loves you, and he’s going to be so excited about how little you are. You know he likes that.”

“I never been this little before though,” Blaine whispered, putting his thumb in his mouth.

“Doesn’t matter. Kurt loves you.”

Blaine sniffled, not responding to that.

“I wish I knew what would make you feel better munchkin,” Daddy told him. 

That got a shrug, and Daddy hugged him tighter. “Do you want to watch a movie with me? Or we can play a game? Or we can just cuddle together? What sounds the best to you?”

“You pick Daddy,” Blaine whispered. 

“How about,” Daddy paused, standing up, “We watch a movie and cuddle together? You, and me, and Boofus?” He tried to put Blaine down so he could go to the DVD player, but Blaine squeezed him tightly.

“No put me down Daddy,” Blaine whimpered.

“Okay munchkin,” Daddy straightened, hugging Blaine back. “I’ll carry you. Do you want something to drink while we watch the movie?”

Blaine nodded, and Noah walked out to the kitchen, filling up a baby bottle with milk. After putting some cookies onto a plate, he walked back to the living room. One handed, he managed to put the movie in, then they cuddled together on the couch.

Blaine kept one hand tightly fisted in Noah’s shirt throughout the movie. Daddy didn’t say anything about it, just keeping his arm around Blaine and rubbing his shoulder. When the credits began to roll, Daddy turned off the film.

“I think it’s time for someone to take a bath,” he murmured, nuzzling Blaine’s curls.

Blaine shook his head, “You shower wif me Daddy? Please?”

“Munchkin, Daddy can’t shower and hold you at the same time. How ‘bout a nice warm bubble bath? We’ll break out Kurt’s secret stash of rainbow bubbles?”

“Does he got any of the choc’late ones Daddy?”

“Oh, you like those better?” Noah stood, easily shifting Blaine to his hip. “We can see if he has any.”

“I yike the choc’late. The rainbows is okay, but I yike the choc’late better.”

Daddy had walked into the bathroom, and he was rummaging around in the container in the closet. “One chocolate bath coming up then munchkin. We should go and buy more bubbles tomorrow. Do you think Kurt would like that?”

Blaine nodded, smiling. “Kurt likes bubble baths.”

“Everybody likes bubble baths,” Daddy told him, tickling a little. “Do you want your boats? Or do you want to play with the crayons?”

Blaine pointed at his boats, then held still as Daddy helped him out of his clothes. He was being quiet, and Daddy started talking to fill the silence. “You’re going to smell so good when we’re all done with this. It’ll make me hungry.”

“No bitin’ Daddy,” Blaine said solemnly. “We go look at the puppies tomorrow when we buy bubbles?”

They talked about their final day together, agreeing that they had to clean up before Kurt got home and then they could go shopping to get more bubbles. And look at puppies; Blaine was insistent that he wanted to do that.

“We can do that munchkin, but we’re just looking. We’re not taking any home.”

Blaine made a face, “I would take good care of a puppy Daddy.”

“I’m sure you would munchkin, but dogs need a lot of attention.”

“We get a kitty cat? They is less work than dogs.” Blaine was sitting in the bath, playing with his boats as he talked to Daddy. 

 

Noah had been sitting next to the tub. He couldn’t really wash Blaine with the bubbles in the tub, but he’d found that both boys seemed to find them relaxing. Blaine could always hop in the shower with him the next day. Reaching into the tub for one of the boats, he floated it up to Blaine’s knee.

“No kitties either munchkin. No pets.”

“What ‘bout a monkey?” Blaine didn’t look at Daddy when he said that, but he did smile a little.

Daddy splashed him a little, “I think one monkey in the apartment is enough.”

Blaine giggled a little at that. “Fishes?”

“No pets,” Daddy told him, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Blaine’s. “No puppies or kitties or monkeys or fish. We’re going to go and play with the animals, but we’re not bringing any home.”

Blaine sighed heavily then. The pet debate had been going on for a long time now, and Blaine knew he had just about no chance of winning. Kurt didn’t want a pet, citing fur on his clothing, and Daddy, ‘didn’t think it was a good idea.’

“You almost done munchkin?”

Blaine held up his hands, looking at his fingers. “I’m all pruney.”

“Better get you out then.” 

Daddy helped Blaine to his feet, lifting him out of the bath tub entirely. After drying him off, Daddy sent him toward the bedroom with a swat. “Go sit on the bed for me.”

Blaine did as he was told, sitting on the bed and swinging his legs a bit. “I wear my dino jammies tonight Daddy?”

“I think we can have dino jammies,” Daddy said, smiling. He pulled them out of the drawer, then came over to help Blaine get redressed. “You want hot chocolate?”

Blaine looked at the ground, shyly asking, “In my bottle?”

Noah wanted to cheer. Having Blaine actually ask for the bottle was a huge step. Realizing that was a bad idea, he simply said, “Of course in your bottle. What kind of Daddy would I be if I gave my little boy hot chocolate in a mug?”

“I come too?”

Daddy didn’t answer that, picking Blaine up and carrying him out to the kitchen. He made hot chocolate for both of them, then they went back to bed.

Cuddled up together, Blaine gave a little sigh of contentment as he drank his hot chocolate. “Daddy?” he said, “I have stories now? Please?”

Noah obligingly read two stories, smiling at the sight of Blaine’s eyelids fluttering shut, and the small amount of hot chocolate that had ended up around his mouth. Blaine was fast asleep before the end of the second story, and Daddy carefully shut the book and turned off the light.

“Night munchkin. Love you,” he murmured, kissing Blaine firmly. The other boy mumbled and shifted in his sleep, but he didn’t wake up. Daddy decided to shut his eyes and get some rest. Hopefully, Blaine would be feeling a little more secure tomorrow.

The next morning, Blaine was sleepy. Daddy let him lay in bed for a while, but around 10:00, he had to get them both up. 

“Come on munchkin. Let’s make some breakfast, and then we’ll clean up a little.”

Blaine yawned widely, shaking his head no and burrowing closer to Daddy. “I’m still seepy Daddy. We should rest some more.”

“No, we need to get up, or you’re never going to be able to sleep tonight.”

Blaine got up, grumbling as he went into the bathroom. “Not like you’re gonna let me stay up all day anyway. Might as well stay in bed now an’ not take a nap.”

“Did you have something you wanted to say to me Blaine?” Daddy asked, eyebrow raised. Sharing his opinion was one thing, but being disrespectful was something else entirely.

“No,” Blaine grouched, shutting the bathroom door slightly harder than strictly necessary. He should not have been surprised that the door opened up right behind him.

“Try it again munchkin.”

“I don’ wanna get up now Daddy!” Blaine pouted, arms crossed.

Daddy sighed, “I get it munchkin, but you can’t stay in bed all morning. Remember? We’re supposed to get bubbles for Kurt and look at puppies.”

“Sorry Daddy,” Blaine said, looking down, chagrined. 

He felt himself being pulled into Daddy’s arms. “‘sokay little crab. You hungry?”

“Uh huh.” Blaine followed Daddy out to the kitchen, not objecting when he was steered to a stool and helped to sit down. 

“Why don’t you color for me munchkin?”

“Can I have the playdoh instead please?” Blaine was sick of coloring. Daddy always made him color when he wanted Blaine to sit quietly.

Daddy nodded, handing the playdoh over. While Blaine was entertaining himself, albeit less quietly than he would be if he’d colored, Daddy threw together breakfast.

He placed a sippy cup full of orange juice in front of Blaine as he finished up and began plating the meal.

“Is almost done Daddy? ‘m hungry.”

“All set,” Daddy told him, setting two plates on the table. “Clean up the playdoh first please.”

Breakfast was eaten quickly, and Blaine helped Daddy by taking dishes to the sink. After, Daddy asked him to go and pick up the living room. One of the (few) perks of small city real estate was the ease with which their home could be cleaned. Less than an hour later, everything was back to something approximating Kurt’s standard of cleanliness. After a slightly more leisurely shower together, they took off to go shopping.

Before they left, Noah had their standard discussion. “You need to stay with Daddy.”

“I know. Stay wif Daddy, be good, no arguing, and now whining. We go look at puppies now?” Blaine tugged at Daddy’s hand, eager to get going.

“Alright munchkin. We’re going to get bubbles first, then we’ll go look at puppies. But we’re looking, not buying. Remember?”

“Okay. I hold your hand all the time?”

Trying to gauge how old Blaine was, Daddy finally nodded. Better safe than sorry. Even when Blaine was feeling his regular little self, he had a tendency to wander. Daddy kept threatening to buy a leash.

They walked to the bath store first, spending quite some time picking out more bubbles. Blaine begged for (and got) more new soap. Daddy knew they didn’t really need it, but it was nearly impossible to refuse Blaine. Especially when he was asking for soap (and why the hell he wanted soap, Daddy didn’t quite get. Although he had to agree that it smelled good).

After that was the pet store. Blaine’s nose pressed to the window, staring at the puppies cavorting in their cages. 

“We see that one Daddy?” he asked quietly, pointing at a rambunctious little black and white puppy.

“We’re looking-” Daddy started to remind him.

Blaine was quick to say, “But we’re not bringing anybody home. I know.”

Confident that Blaine understood that, although less confident that they would not be having a somewhat teary discussion when the puppy had to go back to his cage, Daddy asked the sales clerk if they could play with the animal.

Once they were ensconsed in the small room with the puppy, an adorable if wild little dog, Blaine was instantly on the floor. 

“Good puppy,” he crooned, playing with the little animal. “You’re not barely any trouble. Huh? You’re a good dog.”

Daddy settled on the floor across from Blaine, smiling as he watched his eager boyfriend, allow the puppy to crawl and jump over him. 

“Barely any?” he asked quietly.

“I know,” Blaine sighed sadly. “No puppies. I just want one. I yike having pets Daddy.”

Of the three of them, Blaine was the only one who had grown up with animals in the house, and he had very pleasant memories of the newfie he’d had growing up. 

“Puppies are nice,” Blaine sighed.

“I know they are munchkin,” Daddy reached over to brush Blaine’s curls away from his eyes. “They’re very nice. But Kurt doesn’t like dogs, and I don’t think that we have time to take care of one.”

Blaine nodded, blinking. He knew it was stupid, but he missed having a dog. Dogs were awesome, and he wished that Kurt and Daddy understood that. They were cuddly, and Blaine was an excellent cuddler. 

Daddy let Blaine play with the puppy for a while longer, laughing at their antics together. When the sales attendant came back, she smiled broadly.

“He’s a sweetheart, isn’t he?”

Blaine nodded happily. The dog had rolled onto his back, begging for belly rubs, and Blaine was happy to oblige.

“They’re excellent pets. Very bright and affectionate. He’s not show quality, but he’s good with kids.”

Noah nodded. He knew he should tell the woman that they weren’t planning on buying a pet today, but Blaine was having such a good time, and he had explained it to the other salesperson.

“He’s been here a while,” the salesperson explained, reaching over to scritch behind the dog’s ears. 

“That doesn’t make sense,” Blaine cooed to the animal. “Who wouldn’t want an adorable puppy like this?”

The woman smiled at that, standing up. “Well, I’ll leave you two to make a decision. Let me know if you have any questions.”

Blaine nodded, wholly focused on the dog. 

Daddy hated to interrupt, but they couldn’t spend the day wasting the pet store’s time. Even if Noah had been very clear with the attendant who had gotten the dog out for them, he’d hate it if someone who would legitimately buy the dog didn’t get a chance to see him.

“Angel?” Daddy said gently. “It’s time to get going. You want to go get some lunch?”

Blaine nodded again, growling at the puppy and making his hand into claws. “You’re ferocious,” he murmured, laughing when the puppy nipped at him.

“Munchkin, time to let them put the puppy away,” Daddy said, voice a bit firmer.

Blaine looked up, eyes appearing positively gigantic as he explained, “He’s just a very little dog. He wouldn’t be no trouble. Would you?” he asked the dog.

“Blaine, we agreed that we weren’t getting a dog,” Daddy told him, sitting back down on the floor so that he could make eye contact. “We need to put him away so that other people can look at him.”

With a sad little sigh, Blaine pet the puppy one last time. Then he stood up, holding it tightly to his chest. “It isn’t fair,” he said quietly.

Daddy nodded, “I know. Do you want me to carry him?”

“No.”

They took the puppy back out, and Daddy tried to tease Blaine into a better mood. When joking didn’t work, he offered the park, more shopping, the music store...he even offered to stop and get ice cream, but Blaine was back to being quiet.

“Munchkin,” Daddy admonished, pulling Blaine tightly to his side, “don’t pout.”

“Not pouting,” Blaine told him sadly. “Isn’t pouting if I’m really sad.”

“Do you understand why I’m saying no pets?

Blaine nodded, “Uh huh. Pets is a lot of work, and you fink it’s a bad idea.”

“That’s right. Plus?”

“Kurt don’t like ‘em. ‘cept he don’t really know Daddy. Kurt would like it if we had a puppy.”

Noah nodded at that. “I know you think so munchkin, but we’re not getting a pet anytime soon. Now, what would you like to do?”

“I just wan’ go home Daddy. I’m seepy ‘gain.”

Daddy wasn’t thrilled with that plan. “What do you want for lunch? We need to eat.”

“I not hungry Daddy,” Blaine said quietly.

“Monkey, you have to eat.”

Blaine shrugged. 

“You want to just go home and eat sandwiches?” Noah offered. When that got a nod, he took Blaine’s hand, and they began making their way home. When they got there, Blaine ate his lunch without complaint, and then he went to the bedroom without being told.

By the time Daddy got there, he found Blaine stripped to his teeshirt and boxers, and cuddled under the sheets. Noah sat down on the bed, running his fingers through Blaine’s hair.

“Are you sleepy?”

Blaine nodded.

“Do you want a story?”

“I have cuddles ‘til I fall sleep Daddy?” Blaine yawned. Daddy had been napping with him all weekend, and Blaine didn’t want to be greedy.

Noah didn’t say anything, kicking off his shoes and cuddling next to Blaine. “Is that good monkey?” he asked.

“Yes thank you,” Blaine mumbled, thumb in his mouth. Daddy waited until Blaine’s breathing was deep and even, then he slid out of bed. 

Wandering out to the living room, he clicked on the television. He wanted to do something mindless while Blaine napped. Somehow, in flipping through the stations, he landed on Animal Planet.

Noah got where both of his boyfriends were coming from when it came to the pet issue. Kurt had never had pets, and he had no real desire to take care of something else. Other than Blaine. Blaine was affectionate, and he was more likely to be rambunctious than Kurt. A pet would be a good way to channel that.

Daddy wasn’t opposed to the idea of a pet so much as the idea that he would become responsible for the care of the pet. Any animal they picked out meant extra work, and Noah really didn’t want to have to take care of an animal.

He thought about this conundrum as he watched TV. Blaine napped for about an hour before wandering out to the living room, joining Daddy on the couch.

“Did you sleep okay munchkin?” Daddy asked, pressing a kiss to the top of Blaine’s head.

Blaine just nodded. He wanted Kurt to come home, and he wanted a puppy, and he wanted Daddy, and that was greedy.

“What do you want to do now?” Daddy gently prodded.

“You pick,” Blaine mumbled. He’d gotten to pick all weekend, and that was selfish.

“Angel, what’s wrong?” Daddy could tell that Blaine was still upset, but it wasn’t like Blaine to pout about stuff.

Blaine sighed, snuggling against Daddy. “I’m happy,” he insisted. He was happy. ‘cept sometimes he felt sad for no real reason, and he didn’t really understand how or why. He did know that he should be happy.

Daddy nodded, rubbing at Blaine’s back. “Do you want to play with your blocks?” he suggested.

“‘k Daddy,” Blaine told him, climbing off the couch and getting them. Sitting on the floor, he waited expectantly for Daddy. “You play too?”

Daddy had rather hoped that Blaine would play by himself for a while, but it looked like that wouldn’t be happening. He got down onto the ground beside Blaine, appreciative that it wasn’t pretend play (which Daddy found tedious).

They built until dinner time. Blaine was subdued for the rest of the evening, and Daddy finally decided that it was a good night for early bed. So, after eating dinner (including bell peppers. Blaine had reevaluated his original opinion and said that they were okay now. Daddy was hopping that a few more nights would be enough for Blaine to acknowledge liking them), Daddy and Blaine cuddled on the couch together, reading stories until Blaine yawned sleepily, and then they went to bed.

Blaine woke up bright and early, and he was quick to poke Daddy awake too. “Is time to get Kurt now? We go and pick him up?”

“Monkey?” Daddy was half-asleep, and it took him a minute to process what Blaine was saying. “No, Kurt doesn’t get in until this afternoon. What time is it?”

Blaine knelt up, hand on Daddy’s hip for balance. When he looked at the alarm clock, he bit his lip. He didn’t want to tell Daddy what time it was; Daddy would be mad.

“Angel?” Daddy prodded. He’d check the clock, but then he’d have to roll over, and he was in the perfect position. 

“Is morning time?” Blaine offered, with a weak smile.

“What time exactly?” Daddy said, having a good idea.

“Is going to be seven.”

That was a Kurt answer. “Blaine,” Daddy said severely, “I asked what time it is. I know it will be seven at some point. What time is it exactly, right now.”

Blaine sighed, and flopped back down next to Daddy. “Is very early. I go back to sleep now,” he promised, trying to curl himself into Daddy’s arms.

Now Noah wanted to know what time it was just out of curiosity. Rolling over to look, he groaned, then gave Blaine a light swat. “Five in the morning? You know that’s not time to get up yet munchkin.”

Blaine nodded, chagrined. “I didn’t know though Daddy. I thought it was later ‘til I looked at the clock. We go back to sleep now.”

Daddy patted Blaine’s hip gently. “I think that’s a good plan. No waking Daddy up until at least 8:00. Got it munchkin?”

“Got it,” Blaine agreed, feeling sleepy now that he knew what time it was.

“And don’t get yourself up either,” Daddy added, not wanting Blaine cranky because he’d decided to watch early morning cartoons.

“Sleepy now Daddy,” Blaine told him. With a final pat, Daddy let his hand rest on Blaine’s hip, and they both fell back asleep.

When they woke up at the much more civilized hour of 9:30, Blaine was bouncy and hyperactive. Daddy had to pull him off of the counter twice while he was making breakfast. 

The first time, Noah simply reminded Blaine of the rules. He recognized that Blaine’s tendency toward...exuberance could manifest itself in forgetfulness regarding the rules. So long as the rules weren’t about safety or honesty, Daddy tried to remind first.

The second time, Daddy picked Blaine up, seating him on the counter so they could make eye contact. “Okay munchkin, no more climbing on the counters today. Understood?”

Blaine nodded resolutely, practically buzzing from all the energy. “I unnerstand Daddy. I stay offa the counters now.”

“Alright,” Daddy told him, smiling. “If you get back up though, you’re going to have to go to time out until I’m done making breakfast. Got it?”

Blaine nodded again, “No time out because I’ll ‘member now.”

Daddy helped Blaine hop down off of the counter, then suggested that he finish setting the table. In retrospect, it was a little bit Daddy’s fault. He knew that the shelf with the syrup was up too high for Blaine to reach, but he figured that Blaine would pull over a chair. Especially since he had just been reminded.

Blaine however was off in his own world, and he didn’t even think about it as he swung himself back up onto the counter. Grabbing for the syrup bottle, he turned around to clamber back down, catching Noah’s eye.

“What did I just tell you?” Daddy asked, exasperated. 

Blaine got down quickly. “I forgetted?”

“You forgot what I just told you?”

“No,” Blaine shook his head. “I forgetted you telled me no climbin’. Sorry Daddy.”

“It’s been two sorries already munchkin. Three strikes; go sit in time out until breakfast is done.”

“Daaaaadddddddyyyyyyyyyy,” Blaine didn’t move toward his corner.

Noah started toward him, taking the syrup bottle away and setting it down. Then, turning Blaine toward the corner, he got Blaine going with a sting-y swat. Blaine jumped up, then ran. He didn’t want Daddy to decide that spankings were the only way that Blaine was going to remember anything today.

When he got to the corner, he sat down on his rug, watching Daddy make breakfast. After a while in their own apartment, Daddy had realized that Blaine was better off being allowed to look around during time out. Daddy spent too much time telling him to turn back around if he had to face the wall, and Blaine just got frustrated and tearful that he couldn’t behave well for Daddy. So, time out was just a rug on the ground, and Noah had a clear view of Blaine from the stove. It was convenient since a lot of time outs revolved around food, either cooking or eating.

Sitting with his legs crossed, Blaine watched Daddy make french toast. He put his thumb in his mouth, leaning into the wall. After a minute, he said, “Daddy? I ‘llowed to have Boofus please? And my blanket?”

“You shouldn’t have anything in time out,” Daddy admonished, even as he turned off the burner and went to get the requested sloth and blanket. “Time out is for thinking.”

“Boofus is good at helping me think. He’s an ex’llent thinker,” Blaine explained, reaching his arms up for his stuff. Daddy watched him with an amused expression as Blaine wrapped himself in the blanket and then cuddled Boofus close. Thumb going back into his mouth, Blaine resumed watching Daddy.

“And little boys say,” Daddy prodded.

Blaine blushed, but said, “Thank you Daddy.” He sat quietly for a minute, before he ventured, “Isn’t just little boys though. Grown ups say thank you too. Least they should.”

“You’re right munchkin,” Daddy agreed. 

Although Blaine fidgeted through breakfast preparations, he seemed a little calmer by the time Noah had the food on the table. 

“I need knife please Daddy,” Blaine said. He had to cut up his food.

Daddy shook his head, pulling the plate in front of him. “I think I should do it munchkin,” he explained. Once he had the food diced into bite sized pieces, he speared a bite and held it up. “Bite.”

Blaine blushed brightly at that, averting his eyes even as he opened his mouth obediently. He kind of liked it when Daddy fed him, but he was glad that Kurt wasn’t here. Well, he wanted Kurt to come home right now, but he was glad that Kurt wasn’t seeing Daddy feed him.

Midway through breakfast, Blaine reached for the fork. “I do it,” he insisted. Having Daddy feed him was fun, but he needed to be ready to be a grown up.

“I don’t think so munchkin,” Daddy told him, not relinquishing the utensil. “Let’s finish up, and then we can play.”

Blaine knew that he should be upset that Daddy wasn’t letting him do what he wanted, but he decided that he would just ask for something to eat at lunch that he was clearly big enough to feed himself.

Once they finished eating, Daddy and Blaine cleaned up. Mostly, Daddy did it. Blaine tried to help, but Daddy was being very picky about what Blaine was “big enough” to do. So he took plates to the sink and wiped down the table, but then Daddy finished everything. 

“Daddy? How long before we go get Kurt?” 

Noah looked at the clock, thinking for a minute. It was 10:45 now, and Kurt’s plane was supposed to land at 2:00. 

“Just about 3 hours munchkin.” It was really more like two and half hours, but Daddy figured that erring on the side of too much waiting would probably help keep Blaine from getting too antsy. “What should we do until it’s time?”

“We go see the puppy again?” Blaine asked, making his most hopeful face

Daddy shook his head. He had plans for talking to Kurt, but he didn’t want to get Blaine all upset again. “I don’t think that’s a good plan monkey. Do you want to go to the bookstore?”

Blaine shook his head sadly. “No fank you.”

“What about going to the grocery store? What should we have for dinner tonight?

Blaine considered that; Kurt would be s’prised if they had a good dinner. “We make something Kurt would like?”

“If that’s what you want to do,” Daddy told him, smiling. “Are you going to help me cook dinner?”

“Uh huh! I can be a good helper Daddy.”

Daddy thought about what a very little Blaine could help with, then he suggested, “Do you want to make macaroni and cheese?”

Blaine smiled, nodding, “Wif chicken in it?”

“Yes, but we’re going to do broccoli too. Will you eat that nicely for Daddy?”

Blaine made a face, but he nodded. The macaroni and cheese with chicken and broccoli was something Kurt really liked, and Blaine could stomach the vegetables if they were mixed in. “You cut it up small so is not so broccoli-y?”

That seemed fine with Daddy. “Do you want to get more bell peppers too? You can show Kurt that they’re yummy?”

Blaine stuck his tongue out at that suggestion, following Daddy to the bedroom to get ready. After showering together, they got dressed, then went to the grocery store. By the time they finished that chore, including putting the groceries away, it was almost time to go to the airport. 

Noah decided to stop at the bookstore on the way. Blaine had been really good that morning, climbing on the counter aside, and he figured that buying some books would be a good reward and a distraction.

Although Blaine often read on his own, mostly biographies, he also loved having Daddy read to him. Typically, they would read books together at night, before bed. They had just finished the third Harry Potter book, and Daddy figured they’d pick something new up for them to start reading tonight, now that Kurt was home.

He was surprised when Blaine gravitated toward the picture books. Although Blaine often picked short stories or fairy tales when it was just the two of them, he’d always opted for books that were intended for children who were at least in upper elementary school.

Daddy left Blaine to browse the children’s section, quietly telling him that he’d be looking at the new novels close to the front of the store. When Noah returned, he realized that Blaine was still cautiously looking at the picture books.

Coming up behind Blaine, Daddy wrapped his arms around Blaine’s waist. “See something you want munchkin?” he asked quietly.

“These are baby books,” Blaine murmured, leaning into Daddy. They looked interesting, but they were for really little kids.

“I didn’t ask who they were for,” Daddy told him, “I asked if you found anything you wanted. Are these the books that you wanted?”

“Kurt prob’ly wouldn’t yike ‘em.”

“Do you like them?” Daddy prodded. He didn’t care if Blaine wanted these books.

“They’re for babies.”

“Monkey, answer the question I’m asking please,” Daddy reminded gently. “Do you want them?”

Blaine nodded slowly, not making eye contact, and Daddy quickly added the books to the few he already had in his arms. After paying for everything, they went and got into the car, then began the drive to the airport.

Sitting in the front seat, Blaine looked out the window. “Daddy? Kurt’ll fink those are baby books. He won’t yike ‘em.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Daddy instructed. “You like them; sometimes you pick the stories and sometimes Kurt does. He doesn’t have to like everything you do.”

Blaine sighed, “But I yike it when Kurt’s happy.”

Daddy nodded, “I understand, but I like it when you’re both happy. Kurt doesn’t have to always get his way angel.” As Daddy was explaining this, he pulled into the pick up zone for the airport, stopping the car.

“Is Kurt!” Blaine said, bouncing up and down in the car. “See Daddy! Is Kurt! Right there!”

“I know munchkin; calm down please.”

Blaine stopped moving, sitting very still with his hands in his lap. “I be good now Daddy. You ‘member not to tell Kurt that I was so little, right?”

Noah knew that wasn’t going to last long; Blaine was still acting little. Kurt was going to know the minute he got in the car. 

“Okay monkey. I’m not going to tell Kurt, but I think he would like to know.”

“Nu. Uh.” Blaine said, shaking his head stubbornly. It was rare for Blaine to put his foot down, but he clearly had.

It didn’t matter; Daddy didn’t have to say anything else since Kurt opened the door then. 

“You’re home! We missed you!” Blaine was back to bouncing, and Daddy laid a gentle arm on his knee. 

“Monkey, stop moving around so much please. Hi baby. Ready to go home?”

Kurt made a face at Blaine. He was happy to be home, but he wanted the front seat. He’d only opened up the back so he could put his suitcases in. Before he could open his mouth to express this, Daddy said, “Put on your seat belt please.”

“I wanna sit in the front!” Kurt complained, making a move to get out of the car and move to the front.

Blaine was unbuckling his belt when Daddy put a hand over his, “No Kurt,” he said firmly. Kurt could deal with sitting in the backseat one time. Other than the fact that Blaine needed to know that Kurt not getting what he wanted wasn’t the end of the world, Daddy didn’t feel like having everyone out of the car, moving around. They needed to go.

“But I want to!” Kurt said, eyes widened in outrage. “Blainers doesn’t care, do you?”

“Buckle please. We’re going.”

“I don’t mind,” Blaine explained, trying to unbuckle his seatbelt with Daddy’s hand still covering his. “Is okay. I can sit inna back Daddy.”

“You stay where you are. Kurt, buckle yourself before I get out to help you.”

“I don’t-” Blaine tried again.

Daddy cut him off, “Yes, I heard you. Now please sit still; Kurt, are you ready to go?”

Kurt buckled his seatbelt, glaring at Daddy, then crossed his arms over his chest. This was not fair! Blaine didn’t even care if he took the front seat. Daddy was being an asshole.

He pouted during the ride home, fuming at Noah’s completely unfair reaction to Blaine simply trying to do something nice for him. When Noah parked the car, Kurt hopped out and started toward the door.

“Hey, you need to bring your stuff in,” Daddy kept his voice calm, acting as though he were simply reminding. 

“I’ll get it later,” Kurt said, continuing on his way.

Daddy reached out, snagging his arm and pulling him back. “Kurt, are we going to have a bad night?” he asked.

“No. I’ll come back and get it later,” Kurt said irritably, trying to pull his arm away from Daddy.

“Just do it now please.”

“I can do it,” Blaine interjected, reaching for a suitcase. 

Daddy blocked his hand. “Angel, can you go inside and put away the books we just bought please? Thank you.”

Blaine looked between his boyfriends for a moment, before taking the bag and heading into the house. Daddy looked mad, and he didn’t want to be around for whatever ‘discussion’ was about to ensue.

Noah took Kurt’s arm, making him look into his eyes. “Do we need to have a discussion about who is in charge? Because we can do that, but we both know how that’s going to go.”

With a scowl, Kurt picked up one of his suitcases and made his way into the house. Daddy was mean. There was no reason he couldn’t leave his suitcase where it was.

“Thank you,” Noah told him, grabbing the other bag. Jogging to catch up with his boyfriend, he continued with, “I want you to unpack these now please. We need to get your laundry done.”

Kurt stormed back into the bedroom, angrily unpacking his bags and putting things away. That accomplished, he went out to the living room, where Blaine was sitting curled next to Daddy, paging through a book.

“Why are you reading that?” Kurt asked, disdain clear in his voice. 

“Because this is what we wanted to read,” Daddy said. “You’re welcome to join us if you’d like?”

“That’s a stupid baby book,” Kurt argued, glaring at Blaine. 

Daddy wasn’t sure what Kurt’s problem was, but he could guess. Regardless of why he was acting the way he was, Daddy figured that someone needed a reminder of the rules.

“You can go to time out please,” he said, tone very dismissive.

Kurt looked at him, “I didn’t do anything!”

“You’ve been argumentative since you got in the car, and I’m not going to have you trying to pick a fight. You’re welcome to come back out and join us as soon as you’ve adjusted your attitude.” Before Kurt could argue, Daddy looked up at him, “And if you need help getting to the corner, just let me know.”

Realizing that he’d pushed Daddy just about as far as Daddy could be pushed without handing out a spanking, Kurt hurried to the corner. He continued to scowl for a while, before he began to calm down.

Meanwhile, Blaine sat safe in the curve of Daddy’s arm, trying not to cry. Kurt was right; they were stupid baby books, and Blaine was a stupid baby. 

Pushing the books aside, Blaine mumbled, “I don’ wanna read no more Daddy.”

“Munchkin,” Daddy kissed him, “we were having a good time.”

“They’re stupid baby books,” Blaine said.

“Would you prefer some Proust?” Daddy teased.

Blaine shook his head, not amused. 

“Come on monkey, I like this book.”

“No you don’t,” Blaine whispered. 

“Do too. You don’t want to know what happens next?”

“No thank you,” Blaine said quietly.

“Alright. Why don’t you go find some way to entertain yourself; I’m going to finish this.”

Blaine looked at Daddy. He was probably still teasing. When Daddy tried to get him to stand up, Blaine’s eyes widened.

“You’re gonna read more?”

“I am. Do you want to sit with me and hear the rest of it, or are you going to go and do something remarkably grown up?”Noah teased, poking at Blaine’s ribs.

Blaine tried not to smile, although it was hard when Daddy was tickling. “I s’pose if you’re reading anyway.”

Daddy nodded at that, and they returned to reading. Kurt sat in time out for a little longer, before he couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Daddy?” he called. “I come out and listen to stories now too please?”

“See,” Daddy murmured, “Kurt wants to hear too.” Raising his voice so Kurt could hear, Daddy continued, “You’re welcome to read with us if you’re ready to behave. Are you ready to behave?”

Almost before Daddy finished the question, Kurt was in front of the two of them, nodding. “I can be good.”

Holding out his other arm, Daddy waited until Kurt was settled comfortably, then he returned to the book. They read until it was time for dinner.

It wasn’t until they were cooking together that Kurt realized that something had changed. Blaine was acting funny. It wasn’t that Blaine was being clingy. Although that was true, Kurt was used to Blaine occasionally doing what Daddy referred to as “acting like a barnacle.” It was more the way that Daddy was responding to Blaine.

Noah was touching Blaine more. He touched both of them all the time; he was a very tactile person. But this was more than usual. It seemed like every time he turned around, he was nudging Blaine’s shoulder or tapping his nose. At first, Kurt was jealous, but then he realized that Blaine was acting funny too.

He was doing what Daddy told him, but he was definitely being carefuller than he normally was. Daddy was helping him with that, putting plates down on the counter where Blaine could reach them to set the table rather than expecting Blaine to get a chair (or climb on the counter as he was more likely to do). Blaine was using a sippy cup, and he was talking softly. Plus, the way he was talking was different. Almost like he was littler.

It was that thought that made Kurt realize that Blaine was being littler. Which would explain the children’s books. Kurt actually kind of liked that idea. He liked it when he got to be the big kid, and having Blaine be little was fun.

So, rather than teasing Blaine or getting jealous, Kurt went out of his way to be nice. It didn’t take Noah long to pick up on that, and he was very appreciative of how well Kurt was responding. He’d told Blaine that Kurt was going to love him being little, but he had been nervous about Kurt’s initial response.

Daddy was pleased that Kurt seemed to be happy with Blaine being littler. He figured that things would go easily, and he relaxed into the rhythm of both boys being home again. It had been a long weekend, but Noah was pretty happy to have both of his boys with him.


End file.
